5 Soldiers Missing, Army Porter Died After Avalanche Hits Gurez

Jammu:Five soldiers were missing after multiple avalanches hit forward posts in north Kashmir’s Kupwara and Bandipora districts in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, one Army porter died in another avalanche.

“The soldiers are missing from Mani Post in Bagtoor area of Gurez. Search operations are on to locate and rescue them,” a senior official said.

The Kashmir valley received fresh snowfall on Tuesday, with the plain areas — including Srinagar — experiencing the first of the season. The hill resorts of Pahalgam and Gulmarg also received fresh snowfall.

The valley remained cut off from the rest of the country as flight operations at the Srinagar airport were suspended and the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway was closed for traffic after the snowfall.

“Srinagar experienced 3.5cm of snow and rainfall while recording a minimum temperature of minus 0.2 degrees,” an official of the meteorological department said.